Thailand Expat Forum for Expats Living in ThailandThe Thailand Expats Forum is dedicated those individuals that have chosen to make Thailand their new home. This forum is an ideal place for Expats now living in Thailand to meet and discuss all aspects to their new Thai way of life.

Planning to relocate - questions

Ok I'll try to summarize this as best possible. I am wokring on making a major life change leaving the 6 figure corporate world for a simpler life. I'm 31 yrs old and have saved up enough to where I am generating around $2400 on rental income and diversified stock dividends per month. I'm debtless and have about 300k in appreciating assets.

So on average I have about $2200 in disposable income (leaving a little each month in new stocks to counter inflation). I may have more by the time I make the jump in about a year if I put away another $7000 a month while I'm still working. Can I comfortably live in Thailand for that much? I have found many articles on here saying you can live there for $1000/month easily. But I don't just want to live. I want to live on (or REALLY close to) a beach in a relatively safe area with internet access and plenty of things to do in the area (night life included). So my questions are two fold. One, I plan on visiting Thailand in a few months, where should I visit that meets this criteria? And two, is it possible to even live in such a manner?

I am also looking at Brazil and Ecuador. I love Brazil and had the time of my life but their economy is growing strong and I don't think I can live comfortably on $2200/mo.. I am going to Ecuador later this year to check that out.

My goal is to spend a couple years growing myself. I love wake&snow boarding and I want to learn to surf, do some long mountain climbing trips, learn new language/culture etc. I've been working since 14 and I just want to live a little. I don't see myself learning to surf at 60 when most people retire and I'm in a unique position to where I think I can pull this off.

hi and welcome to the forum. the question "how much do i need to live in thailand" is a weekly staple in most online expat forums and invariably ppl argue across a huge range of $$ values that "I can live comfortably on this amount". Simple answer there are too many personal variables to nominate an amount. Comfortable to some is unbearable hardship to others etc. Try googling on "how much do i need to live in thailand" or similar and you might well come across some of these threads. They can make for quite interesting reading. Because of the above you probably won't know how much you'll need until you have lived here a few months - another good reason to just come on a trial basis initially.

In terms of locations .... well I can't think of anywhere that meets all your criteria. In terms of meeting most of them, perhaps look at Hua Hin, Phuket, Pattaya/Jomtiem and environs for starters and then explore outwards

Thank you for the info! I'm looking up those places now. I understand the living comfortably calculation difficulty. Even here in Orlando, Florida many live off $2,000 a month but it's not what I would consider comfortable. I'd be perfectly happy in the woods in a log cabin as long as it's clean and doesn't leak I'm more concerned with the area and being able to afford to get around and eat at different places and maybe take out a friend or lady friend from time to time.

Hang on a minute there mate, you will need a visa plus visa extension to stay here, maybe you need a Thai wife to make that easier. You might want to look into that first.
2200 USD a month is more than ok to live on here, for me at least. I have around 1400.- USD and things are fine.

Ok I'll try to summarize this as best possible. I am wokring on making a major life change leaving the 6 figure corporate world for a simpler life. I'm 31 yrs old and have saved up enough to where I am generating around $2400 on rental income and diversified stock dividends per month. I'm debtless and have about 300k in appreciating assets.

So on average I have about $2200 in disposable income (leaving a little each month in new stocks to counter inflation). I may have more by the time I make the jump in about a year if I put away another $7000 a month while I'm still working. Can I comfortably live in Thailand for that much? I have found many articles on here saying you can live there for $1000/month easily. But I don't just want to live. I want to live on (or REALLY close to) a beach in a relatively safe area with internet access and plenty of things to do in the area (night life included). So my questions are two fold. One, I plan on visiting Thailand in a few months, where should I visit that meets this criteria? And two, is it possible to even live in such a manner?

I am also looking at Brazil and Ecuador. I love Brazil and had the time of my life but their economy is growing strong and I don't think I can live comfortably on $2200/mo.. I am going to Ecuador later this year to check that out.

My goal is to spend a couple years growing myself. I love wake&snow boarding and I want to learn to surf, do some long mountain climbing trips, learn new language/culture etc. I've been working since 14 and I just want to live a little. I don't see myself learning to surf at 60 when most people retire and I'm in a unique position to where I think I can pull this off.

Would love some feedback/advice from anyone else who has done this.

I can give you some advice based on my experiences of 3 years. I also have rentals for income and am finding it difficult to manage them from a distance. I know there are management companies to look after your rentals, but they are not always reliable for many reasons.

Thailand does not seem to make it easy for younger people to relocate here. The VISA situation will be your biggest headache. I don't recommend marrying for VISA reasons. I do not know what the VISA situations are in Brazil or Ecuador, but it would be advisable to research those as well.

I lived in Brazil and have visited Ecuador. In my opinion the weather in Ecuador beats Thailand by far. There you also have the mountains, beach etc. In Thailand the mountains are really hills. No snow here! Most Expats are older people and you may not have as large a Expats group your age as you would like. No matter where you go. There will of course, be lots of tourists your age. Brazil will be more expensive and again does not offer the mountains or snow. You might consider Northeast Brazil, Fortaleza area, where it may be cheaper to live.

The last consideration is distance from the US. Ecuador is a lot closer to the US then Thailand and should be cheaper and quicker to get back home. Not that you need to, but there may be times you may want to return for family things, rental issues, etc.

I'm glad your hard work has paid off and admire your ability to take a couple of years to grow yourself. Good Luck.

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